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NEPM also obtained a handwritten log tracking all 156 investigations of its own officers the department conducted during those 10 years, including those initiated not by civilian complaints but by superior officers. He said when he spoke out against the alleged injustice, racism and favoritism and nepotism that he had witnessed, he was punished and shunned. Roca said his attempts to transfer to a different police department were allegedly sabotaged by the chief, and cited a single informal complaint made against him that he said ended with no investigation and him working in an administrative role for more than a month. Hours per week:37.5 Weeks per year:52. Mayor Alex Morse said in a statement that he could not comment on a personnel matter. The handwritten log, which tracks civilian and internal complaints against officers and their conclusions, features two entries for Roca. Taken from that vehicle was two ballistic vests with two magazines in the pouches, along with some K9 gear, and a first aid bag. Roca, a five-year veteran of the police force who served in the U.S. Marines before that, said he refused to remove the video upon Febos orders on Sunday. Lorna McMurrey, 27, was filling . But critics have described that body as toothless. Concepcion is not the first to allege that the HPD resisted taking his complaint. Though he mentioned no names in the video, one incident Roca referred to occurred in September 2011, when police Sgt. HOLYOKE Two days after a Holyoke Police Officer posted a viral YouTube video accusing his own department of corruption and racism, Police Chief Manny Febo has clapped back. NEPM has obtained a decades worth of civilian complaints against HPD officers and the departments own internal investigations of them. He said that the officer had allegedly been instructed to give him remedial training on how to apply a tourniquet. This, he said, was a result of an incident in late January in which he had responded to an incident that resulted in a stabbing and been praised by his coworkers. Reyes ultimately exonerated Romero. Bryan Custadio, Fall River Police Department. And the department has yet to turn over a single investigation initiated by department supervisors or other agencies, which include allegations of everything from untruthfulness to an intercepted phone conversation revealing possible misconduct from the Hampden County jail, according to the HPDs log. Police Capt. This followed years of battles between the mayor and City Council over control of the department and the effectiveness of a previous advisory panel, the Civilian Community Police Hearing Board. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Because when you speak up and you expose corruption, he said in the video, thats what they do.. A handful of other officers were "spoken to" or "cautioned" by their superiors for other offenses, but the records show no evidence that the officers were disciplined for those violations of department rules. He said that he saved the state troopers life, only to be treated like a piece of crap afterward, getting turned down for a job with the state police. Two officers did respond to say that department policies prohibit them from speaking to the press without permission from higher-ups. How do cops view themselves and their work? Some complaints involve allegations that police officers broke the law. In a statement, Pratt said he knows that both the FBI and Attorney General looked into Mr. Rocas allegations and found zero evidence to open an investigation. Roca responded saying he already appealed the decision to the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission. You have been subscribed to WBUR Today. Nobody should get away with taking the law into their own hands and being above it, he said. In fact, a year later, Valentin filed a civilian complaint against an HPD officer over his rudeness to her at the scene of a car crash involving her wife treatment Valentin alleged was related to her political stances. Holyoke Officer Rafael Roca, a former Marine hired in 2016, said in the 43-minute video posted on YouTube that Chief Manny Febo is corrupt and plays favorites, and he argued that members of minority groups are passed over for plum assignments and that discipline is handed out selectively. A newly released independent audit of the Holyoke Police Department found the HPD poses a "substantial risk" to the city it serves. Of those 18 officers, eight made more than $200,000. The reality is my community policing cops got a tip and they followed up on it, Neiswanger told The Republican at the time. That decision was made after a Holyoke police officer publicly alleged corruption within the HPD and a Daily Hampshire Gazette investigation found what some characterized as "excessive. (WWLP) - Holyoke's Chief of Police responded to the allegations of corruption within the department, made by an officer in a widely-circulated YouTube video. Now, he said, one of his sons was on pain medication because of the force Romero used to arrest him. March 15, of He said he is disappointed with how city officials reacted to his allegations. The analysis found that 15 officers were paid more than 500 hours of overtime in fiscal year 2020, including four of the departments five highest-paid officers, who earned hourly overtime rates ranging from $94 to $109 an hour. | Danielle Eatondeaton@thereminder.com, An officer with the Holyoke Police Deparment recently released a YouTube video, which contained allegations of corruption within the department.Reminder Publishing photo by Danielle Eaton. Daily Hampshire Gazette Contests & Promotions, Daily Hampshire Gazette Evening Top Reads, Daily Hampshire Gazette Weekly Top Stories, Daily Hampshire Gazette Dining & Entertainment, Support the var photocredit = "'SCREENSHOT/YOUTUBE' 'Holyoke police officer Rafael Roca. Ill probably lose my job, but Im good. Roca said he hopes the Massachusetts government will audit the department. I think the challenge with that is in most jurisdictions that have a civilian review board or some version of that, its very rare for that board to have investigatory powers, Terrill said. In his 2016 study in the journalPolice Quarterly, Terrill and fellow researcher Jason Ingram found that in cities that had police conducting internal investigations, but where an external civilian oversight agency reviewed their decisions, the department was "significantly more likely to sustain complaints." We were unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today. ", He calls outgoing Police Chief Manny Febo "corrupt," contending minorities are routinely passed over for upper-tier assignments and disciplined at higher rates. sales var sellablestring3 = "STAFF FILE PHOTO"; Ultimately, police found the weapon in February 2012 while Morse was riding along with officers on duty. Growing up Puerto Rican in the Flats neighborhood of Holyoke one of the citys majority-Hispanic lower wards Maldonado Velez said he heard plenty of stories from those whom that system harmed. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). A former military police officer, Terrill has for many years researched civilian complaints against police officers in cities across the country, including a2016 study that looked at departmentsin eight different cities. Last week, Holyokes acting mayor fired Rafael Roca, a police officer who posted a video to YouTube making allegations of corruption and racism within the Holyoke Police Department, Daily Hampshire Gazette reported. . In 2016, Irving Concepcion says the Holyoke police pulled him over with their guns drawn, yanked him out of his car and slammed him down on the hood. After nearly a year, Reyes closed the departments investigation of the incident, saying he was unable to reach the man who complained. Compare the best Police Misconduct lawyers near Holyoke, MA today. The HPDs log of complaints and internal investigations contains no evidence the department ever opened an internal investigation into the incident. The classic response to demonstrated police corruption Step 1: Shoot the messenger. In it, he alleged that superior officers falsify overtime pay, have protected each other from punishment for misconduct and have fostered a culture of favoritism and racism when it comes to promotion. Holyoke Police Officer Rafael Roca Fired Over Video Accusing Department Of Corruption And Racism November 23, 2021 | No Comments Last week, Holyoke's acting mayor fired Rafael Roca, a police officer who posted a video to YouTube making allegations of corruption and racism within the Holyoke Police Department, Daily Hampshire Gazette reported. Instead of arresting the driver, Monsalve, one of a number of officers who responded, decided to park the drivers car and give him a ride back home. For those reasons, Reyes cleared the officers of violating department policies. I find that the amount of force used was reasonably necessary under the circumstances, the internal investigation concluded, noting that fellow officers described Hamels initial interaction with the man as peaceful, calm and cooperative.. delays new police misconduct database, Dusty Christensen, New England Public Media. Thats what police was for. Roca claimed that Manny Febo, the first Latinx police chief in Holyoke, has targeted him and other employees by refusing them positions and recognition for their work. NEPM also contacted all of the police officers mentioned in this story via email or phone. In other words, having the power to question the suspect, having the power to question the officer.. He attested that state troopers consistently call him to translate for them, as they do not have enough Spanish speakers on the force. Jorge Monsalve. Thank you! He said that is because he is a proactive police officer who tries to engage in crime fighting., I was a very proactive officer, I would do my job, I tried to do traffic stops, he told the Gazette. ", Police departments in America have a lot of unnecessary military hardware, thanks to sweetheart deals between legislators and arms dealers that allow for layers of creative financial accounting as long READ THE REST, Here's how creator Johnny Damm explains the project: Can policing be reformed? But some will be missing, Mass. When Massachusetts lawmakers passed a sweeping police reform law in late 2020, one of the bills provisions opened up law enforcement misconduct investigations to greater scrutiny under the states public records law. I already knew they were going to wait until the last minute, he said. She wrotethat she believed Rocas public statements to be untruthful and self-serving, and that he made them with the intent to defame the Holyoke Police Department.. Neiswanger said that a tipster found the gun in an alley, and that the mayors presence was a coincidence. Yeah they didnt waste any time. The Appellant left the Holyoke Police Station at approximately 11:00 p.m. and proceeded to the detail in his personal vehicle by means of Southampton Road. He said minority candidates get passed over for top positions, as detectives or supervisors. Youre supposed to act a certain way, talk a certain way. Its a problem within our commonwealth and it will continue to be a problem until we have an administrative agency that has teeth, that has enforcement power, that can punish municipalities and agencies when they withhold records improperly, Pyle said. Hed be gone by then.. Have you ever had a vision READ THE REST, We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. OSHA, cannabis company reach $14k settlement in Holyoke worker's death . var photocredit = photocredit.toUpperCase(); If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. var currentheadline = document.getElementById("headline").innerText; In a nearly 45-minute speech, he alleges that superior officers in the department falsify overtime pay, have protected each other from punishment from misconduct and have fostered a culture of favoritism and racism when it comes to promotion. In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston Area. Roca said he retired from the U.S. Marines after a lengthy career in 2016 and pursued his lifelong dream of being a police officer. Roca also alleged that he has been the subject of retaliation for speaking out about misconduct in the department. Twelve of the 46 patrolmen with eight years or more of experience are part of a minority group, and nine of them have specialized positions, Febo wrote. The agency still has not released that data because of the need to clean up and validate the massive data set, according to Zuniga. Roca said a police captain called him about a day after he posted the video. I wasnt looking for them to be on my side, but youd think if somebody was making allegations about their city they may have questions themselves.. This story is a production of the New England News Collaborative. He also said that academics have struggled to answer the question of whether a complaint against an officer represents a problem officer, a productive officer or some combination of the two. of March 9, 2021. "whether the employee has been guilty of substantial misconduct which adversely affects the public interest by impairing the efficiency of public service." School Comm. A 2020 city report of the top 100 salaries in the city shows that, including school staff, 18 out of the top 20 highest paid city employees that year were police officers. var tag_id = document.getElementById('buylinkRocaHolyokeFiring-hg-111721,ph1'); When he declined to do so, Roca said he was suspended with pay for failure to obey a direct order on my day off and for violating their social media policy., It goes to show that theyre dirty and they want to cover up the stuff that they do, Roca told the Gazette. Theyre there to protect each other, to look out for each other, and to come out with force in our community. School Holyoke Community College; Course Title ENGLISH 1301; Type. Instead of being a man and admitting he made a mistake about seeing me with a firearm, he chose to remain silent and never appeared in court.. Pages 17 Course Hero uses AI to attempt to automatically extract content from documents to surface to you and others so you can study better, e.g., in search results, to enrich docs, and more. The suspended officers are listed below: Devon Bones, Holyoke Police Department Bryan Custadio, Fall River Police Department Leon Davis, Springfield Police Department Ernest Fontaine,. He expressed frustration that former Mayor Alex Morse did not do enough to address issues of racism during his tenure. Of the remaining 34 non-minority officers in this group, 18 are in a specialized assignment. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23, Holyoke Police Officer Rafael Roca suspended after posting viral video alleging corruption at the department, Because of this video I will probably be fired: Holyoke officer alleges police corruption in viral video, Holyokes fiscal future appears bright as Joshua Garcia enters office.
